anyway, steve's part on the MSNBC transcript doesn't start until almost halfway down the rather long transcript. i suggest you do an in-text search (ctrl-f on a PC or open apple-f on a mac) and search for latoyia figueroa. that should bring you right to the beginning.
the whole interview is quite funny, especially if you accidentally start a little early like i did:
CARLSON: You-- you're a great man, G. Gordon Liddy.that part cracks me up. "you're a great man, G. Gordon Liddy" is a perfect way to set the tone for the whole interview.
(LAUGHTER)
CARLSON: Still to come, a tale two of missing young women. Natalee Holloway and Latoyia Figueroa still haven't been found. Coming up next, I'll talk to a man who believes race is playing a major role in the media coverage of those two stories.
then after steve is introduced as "a man who believes race is playing a major role in the media coverage" steve utterly refuses to be tucker's monkey.
CARLSON: ...Now, Mr. Reynolds, summarize for me why you think there's been this disparity in coverage between the Holloway case and now the Figueroa case?so much for tucker's intro. luckily, he doesn't give up all that easily
STEVE REYNOLDS, BLOGGER, ALLSPINZONE.COM: Well, West Philly isn't quite as exotic as Aruba. And I'm not likely to take a vacation there. But Latoyia Figueroa is one of our neighbors. Philadelphia is a town that gives back. We wanted that kind of coverage that was given to Natalee Holloway to be given to Latoyia Figueroa.
CARLSON: But...
REYNOLDS: That's all there is. Now, is it race? Is it socioeconomic reasons that she didn't get covered? I'll leave it to you. You're the media expert.
CARLSON: I mean, it seems--it seems--well, I suppose you watch the press probably more carefully than I do. It seems to me obvious that one some in one of these women, Natalee Holloway, comes from a more affluent background than Ms. Figueroa does. And I think it's obvious that does play a factor, that the people who make these decisions about news coverage decide their viewers have more in common with Natalee Holloway than with Latoyia Figueroa. I think you're right. However...this tucker guy is hilarious. first, he says that steve pays more attention to the media than he does. so then steve illustrates tucker's point by quoting tucker's own words back at him--words in which tucker himself seemed to acknowledge that race may have been a factor.
REYNOLDS: Last night...
CARLSON: Yes.
REYNOLDS: ... you said that you don't know whether it's a matter of race, right or wrong, whether it's a matter of race. Probably wrong. Those are your words. And I would say, you're one of the people in the media who makes these decisions, right or wrong. Probably wrong.
CARLSON: Actually, that's--that's--that's not at all what I said. I said...
REYNOLDS: Actually, I just read those words.
CARLSON: I have them--I just read them right before I came on. REYNOLDS: OK.
later, tucker tries again to put words in steve's mouth:
CARLSON: Well, you get the sense reading blogs on this subject that there's a belief on the left that the press, owned and run by corporations, is intentionally ignoring the plight of the downtrodden as a policy, and that that is somehow—you know, it's part of some right-wing conspiracy.but my absolute favorite part comes at the very end of the interview, just after tucker and steve seem to agree that the media should focus on highfalutin news stories and not just sensationalism:
REYNOLDS: No, I wouldn't--I wouldn't say that.
I would say that it's a marketing decision by the press, likely, and that is--just as you said earlier, that it's probably, they--they gauge that a middle-class or upper middle-class white woman missing is likely going to get more viewers more excited.
CARLSON: All right.
REYNOLDS: And--and we--I would speak for myself. I would say, that's not what the press should be doing. The press should be reporting news. They shouldn't be trying to get viewers.
CARLSON: Well, actually, I--I absolutely agree with you. I do agree with you. And, in fact, I think it's disproportionate and it's not representing reality. And on that...isn't that last bit priceless?
REYNOLDS: Good.
CARLSON: ... we agree.
REYNOLDS: We agree.
CARLSON: But to get high-handed and say, your job is to report the news, indeed, we do report the news, including this.
So, we sure appreciate, Mr. Reynolds, you joining us.
REYNOLDS: Thanks.
CARLSON: Coming up, bare-knuckle, no-holds-barred, steel-cage brawls are making a huge comeback in the Midwest. Great entertainment or an assault on the senses, that's a question to be answered by the Outsider next.
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FULL DISCLOSURE: i know steve. he's one of my drinking liberally drinking buddies. i hope he doesn't mind my using his real name for this post. i figure he basically outed himself when he posted a link to the transcript in this post.
...speaking of which, go read steve's post to see his own perspective of how the interview went. i hadn't read the bit below the fold when i wrote this post. now i have. you should too.
